Most Popular New Year’s Resolutions

At the end of every year, people across the UK make their New Year’s resolutions with the determination to see them through until the following year. It doesn’t always work out for the full twelve months, but throughout January you will find people trying their very best to keep to their new habits.

Here, we have taken a look at the most popular resolutions that people make at New Year and taken a guess as to why they often don’t work out…

Lose Weight/Get Healthy

Usually at the top of the list, getting fit and healthy is an obvious choice due to excesses of Christmas still fresh in our minds. Typically, getting healthy and losing weight is something that should always be encouraged, but making a rushed effort to drop weight fast is hard to maintain and eventually you start to lose your enthusiasm.

Staying power: A healthy lifestyle should be a gradual, permanent change – not a quick fix to shift your holiday pounds.

New Job

Working over the Christmas period can definitely affect the way we see our working lives and, with the New Year coming up, we often feel that January is a good time to start job hunting. Whether you are looking for a change of pace, a more challenging role or better pay, we can always find a good reason to get out CV out there.

Staying power: Finding a new job can be tricky and you might not get instant results. If you don’t expect miracles and have some patience, this can pay off for you in the long run.

Learn a skill

Whether you wish to learn a new language, improve your cooking skills, master a musical instrument or take a practical course, there are many ways to improve yourself in the coming year. Classifieds and the internet offer a number of options for you and no matter where you are in the UK; chances are you can find something suitable nearby.

Staying power: This is a great choice for a New Year’s Resolution, as long as you are doing it for the right reasons. Learn a new skill to improve yourself, not to impress someone or prove a point to a loved one.

Keep in touch

Even though the internet has made communication infinitely easier, we still struggle to keep in touch with the people we love throughout the year. If your resolution this year is keep up your correspondence then it is always a good idea to make face-to-face visits part of your plan. Emails and text messages are all well and good but the best way to strengthen a friendship is in person.

Staying power: This only works if both parties make the effort. If you find your communication is always one-sided, maybe it is time to put your efforts into other relationships instead?

Be charitable

After indulging ourselves at Christmas, we often think about those less fortunate and resolve to do more for others in the New Year. This can come in many forms, from helping out a neighbour with their housework and shopping to raising hundreds of pounds via fundraising and charitable events. The best thing about this resolution is that no matter how big or small your gesture is, it is worth the effort to help someone else for a change.

Staying power: You don’t have to raise millions to achieve this goal – simply having a clear-out at home and donating the items to your local charity shop is very much appreciated and can help motivate you to continue throughout the year.